Anthropology is filled with stories of cultures that practiced ritual and sacrifice to anchor their place in the world. There's little to reason to doubt that the far-removed generations of the survivors of a spaceship that crash landed on an empty but livable planet might not develop their own rituals,unrecognizable to their technological ancestors.

Reading is as important to her as breathing, and through reading she finds meaning in her life. But what happens when the book which holds the greatest stories she has ever read is finally reaching an end?

When the Old Wise Woman of the Tall Bright Hills finally passed through the veil, she left three things behind--her Reflection, her Shadow, and her Echo--and granted them their freedom. But when they all espy a beautiful youth, everything changes.